Brown assailed over comments

By Kirsty Needham

January 18, 2011 — 3.00am

THE Greens leader, Bob Brown, has sparked a barrage of criticism after he sought to link the country's widespread flooding to climate change.

Senator Brown has been labelled insensitive after his suggestion the mining sector be taxed to cover its perceived responsibility for the disaster, but he said a mature debate about the cause of Australia's flood emergencies should not be ''taboo''.

Bob Brown ... has been accused of "insensitive timing".

''Whenever there is a catastrophe with loss of life, the debate about the cause of that is part of the coming to grips,'' he said yesterday.

The Opposition Senate Leader, Eric Abetz, called for Senator Brown to apologise for insensitive timing amid mourning over the Queensland flood death toll.

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''Climate scientists have warned politicians time and time again that individual extreme weather occurrences cannot be blamed on climate change,'' said Senator Abetz.

The Resources Minister, Martin Ferguson, warned Senator Brown that he should remember the floods affected not only the mining companies, whose Queensland mines have been brought to a halt, but the workers, too.

''In the midst of this crisis, it is important to remember that it is not just the coal companies taking a hit,'' he said.

''Workers in the coal industry, their families and their local communities are suffering. It is a time for pulling together, not for pointing the finger.''

Amid outrage from the mining industry, Senator Brown said he was not attacking mine workers with his call for the ''culprits'' to help foot the bill for the clean-up. He wants half of a 40 per cent resources super profits tax quarantined in a fund to pay for future natural catastrophes.

''There's very little doubt that the burning of fossil fuels is responsible for the hottest oceans we've ever seen off Australia, which in turn the scientists are saying very clearly is responsible for the quite extraordinary and harrowing floods that we've seen,'' Senator Brown said.

His views appeared to be supported by a report on the flood disaster and climate change being prepared by an expert on the federal government's multi-party committee which is investigating ways to price carbon.

Professor Will Steffen, a committee member, said he would be reporting on the floods.

''We are getting more intense rainfall events as the earth warms, but it's difficult to pin down any individual event,'' he said. ''Rainfall events like the type we've seen in Queensland are becoming more likely as the earth warms.''

Senator Brown said those critical of his comments were climate sceptics ''or don't believe we should be having a check on the burning of fossil fuels''.

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''To say that we shouldn't talk about it until some time into the future … is simply asking for the subject to be taboo. That's not a responsible way for an open democracy like ours to progress,'' he said.